8 Reasons Why the Philippine Mental Health Act of 2014

Should be Passed as a Law

Theres so much for us to know about mental health.
By Ian Benedict Mia | November 2, 2015

Its annoying how people use terms for mental disorders so loosely (i.e. some of the
common ones are depressive, bipolar, delusional and autistic), and sometimes label
others to have a particular disorder with just the basis of initial observations. Mental
disorders are not just labels for people who you think have problems, but they are
actual diagnoses of their mental health.

This just shows how generally unaware we are about mental health, and that we
definitely need a mental health law in our country. Senator Loren Legarda has filed
the Philippine Mental Health Act of 2014 in November last year, but it hasnt moved
much since. Here are 8 reasons why we should support the enactment of this law.

8. Only 0.05 psychiatrists per 100,000

people in the country
In the Philippines, there are a very limited number of psychiatrists certified by the
Philippine Psychiatric Association (PPA) who can help Filipinos with mental health
problems.

7. Cases of depression
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in 2011 that the Philippines has the
highest incidence of depression in Southeast Asia. In 2004 alone, the Department of
Health reported 4.5 million cases of depression.

6. Suicide rates
Youve heard various reports of people committing suicide, especially among the
youth. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, PH suicide rate increased
alarmingly from 1984 to 2005 In 2012, 2558 cases of suicide were recorded.
5. Lack of mental health facilities
A 2006 WHO report stated that the Philippines spends only 5% of the total health
budget on mental health and most of which go to the operation and maintenance of
mental hospitals. Also, mental health facilities in the country are mostly located only
in major cities.

4. Very slow process of enacting a mental

health law
Members of the PPA have been trying to get in touch with the Philippine Congress
for the past 15 years to legislate a mental health act. So far, the most recent was the
one filed by Senator Loren Legarda. The exact reason for the delay of enacting the
law cannot be identified because of the lack of information available in the Philippine
Congress website.

3. Filipinos looking down on psychiatry

National Center for Mental Health Dr. Bernardino Vicente agreed that, even in the
medical community, many look down on psychiatry as a medical practice.

2. The country and natural disasters

The aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda did not just leave various infrastructural
damages, but also caused mental health problems like post-traumatic stress disorder
to the people affected. This is the same case among other typhoons that hit the
country.

1. Apathy
Lets face it, most Filipinos easily dismiss mental health disorders because we dont
know enough about it. Thus, we tend to label other people various terms like abnoy,
mongoloid or even tanga or bobo. Being indifferent to these people would only bring
them more harm than good.
What do you think? Do you know someone who has a mental health problem?

Why we need a mental

health law in PH
'Every Filipino should be entitled to mental health programs and services. Mental
health problems in the country has long been dismissed and not given any
priority at all'

Hazel Delgado Planco

Published 12:18 PM, March 13, 2015

Updated 12:18 PM, March 13, 2015

It is alarming that many youth today are contemplating on hurting themselves

and ending their lives, when they should be planning for their future.

Do you still remember the following cases of suicide being in the news?

A controversial former military chief shot himself in the chest while visiting
his mother's grave.
A young lawyer, who worked for a well-known bank, strangled himself to
death because he cannot bear the stress of being investigated for a multi-
million loan grant to a businessman.

A freshman scholar of a state university took her own life after she was
forced to be on leave from the university due to her unpaid tuition.

A bipolar socialite model fell from her condo in an apparent suicide.

A student from an international school jumped to his death after he was

accused of plagiarism by his teacher.
 A family of 5 on a completed suicide-murder case (as facilitated by the
parents) after their business went bankrupt.

A recent case of an alleged suicide attempt by a young politician with a

self-inflicted gunshot wound.

And just this March, a Northern Luzon State University first year student
opted to end her life because she was not able to take her midterm
examinations, and unable to pay her boarding house forcing her to quit
school, again due to financial problems.

The list goes on and on. The media will continue to report the fatalities and
government agencies will again be pointing fingers at each other. The Filipino
people will continue with their lives, continuing to bear the emotional and
psychological burden not just on their shoulders but also in their worn out minds.

Is this the current trend or is this a result of media sensationalizing the news on
suicide? Is it true that many Filipinos are now afflicted with mental and emotional
disabilities?

How can we save the youth from being a suicide fatality? How can we save the
future generation from the claws of death? Do we really need to have high
statistics on suicide as proof that it deserves our full attention before we do
something about it?

Mental health of the Filipino youth

In 2014, the report Health for the Worlds Adolescents" by the World Health
Organization (WHO) revealed that depression is the predominant cause of illness
and disability for both boys and girls aged 10 to 19 years old. Suicide is the third
leading cause of death among adolescents.

In 2012 alone, an estimated 1.3 million young people worldwide died because of
suicide. Furthermore, the report stated that half of all the people who develop
mental disorders show their first symptoms at the age of 14. If adolescents with
mental health problems get the care they need, their deaths or suffering
throughout life can be prevented. (Read:Depression, the indiscriminate stalker)

Unipolar depressive disorders is one of the projected leading causes of disease

and injury burden by 2030, according to the 2004 WHO Global Burden of
Disease Report. And since the burden of depression and other mental health
conditions are seen to be on the rise globally, the World Health Assembly, in a
resolution issued in May 2012, called for a comprehensive, coordinated response
to mental disorders from health and social sectors at the country level.

A research conducted by Lapea, Tarroja, Tirazona & Fernando of DLSU-SDRC

on the Filipino youths views on mental health revealed that the problems
confronting the youth include lack of resources and conflict within themselves or
with others.

The researchers recognized that some of the youth's coping strategies are
positive - seeking help, actively resolving, and talking about the problem. But
they also noted how other strategies that the youth use - such as engaging in
negative and escapist behaviors, excessive drinking, taking drugs, acting out, or
simply ignoring the problem - are not desirable. This research showed that even
without intervention, Filipino youth are able to cope with their difficulties by
relying on their inner resources.

But of course, the Filipino youth still needs to be guided and led towards mental
health interventions that are available to cater to their needs and to eliminate the
stigma attached to mental health problems, as well as to seeing a mental health
professional. (READ: Can Facebook stop you from committing suicide?)

The Natasha Goulbourn Foundation has been actively campaigning awareness

on depression and suicide prevention. As a non-profit organization, however, it
has many limitations in reaching out to every corner of this country since its
operations rely solely on donations. Yet, the foundation is doing its best to
maximize every opportunity to educate the Filipino people about how to
recognize the signs and symptoms of depression, what people can do to help the
depressed, and where to get help.

That's why Jean Goulbourn, the President of NGF, supports and campaigns for
the initiative of the Philippine Psychiatric Association's (PPA) Mental Health Act,
which aims to protect the rights of people with mental disorders and disabilities
by putting in place an official body that will oversee the policies and programs
that need to be developed to prevent and treat mental illnesses.

The Philippine Mental Health Act of 2014 has already been filed in the Senate by
Sen Loren Legarda, but the online petition for signature from the public, as
support to push the passing of this law, is still ongoing atChange.Org.
Unhappy citizens, unhappy country

It has long been overdue. Every Filipino should be entitled to mental health
programs and services. Mental health problems in the country has long been
dismissed and not given any priority at all.

The country spend millions and billions for the never-ending investigations on
pork barrel scams, ill-gotten wealth, multi-million infrastructure projects gone
wrong etc, and these drag on for years yet still remains unsolved. This, while
more and more Filipinos become oppressed, repressed, and distressed.

No wonder the Earth Institute of Columbia University revealed in the 2012 World
Happiness Report that the Philippines only ranked 103rd among 155 countries
and is considered to be one of the least happy countries in Southeast Asia.

In order to build a mindstrong nation and be armed with socio-economically and

psychologically competent citizens, we must first acknowledge the fact that there
are no programs and policies designed to protect the mentally ill, prevent mental
illness, and promote mental health in the country at present. As they say, it's
better late than never.

If we continue to just shrug our shoulders and dismiss this issue, the Philippines
will remain a third world country plagued not just by corruption but with corrupted
minds from the lack of awareness and services that will cater to the mental,
emotional and psychological well-being of its people.

To invest in mental health is to invest in national development. To raise

mindstrong Filipinos is to raise the nation's competency and resilience while
fostering hope and optimism and strengthening the holistic wellness of the
Filipinos.

Let us not be a country of weary, anxious, depressed and mentally unstable

citizenry. We are responsible for our own psychological health. Let us support the
Mental Health Act. Let us make our voices heard and show the government the
pressing need for a mental health law.

It is for our own protection from the multi-faceted mental health problems that
each of us Filipinos deal with every day. - Rappler.com
You can watch and share the PPAs official petition video here and here.Sign the
petition for the Philippine Mental Health Act of 2014.

Hazel Delgado Planco is a teacher, poet, traveler and animal lover who is
engaged in various NGO work. She likes to write about poignant subjects that
arouses her interests. She assents to Sri Sri's words of wisdom that the ultimate
purpose of life is to be of service because service is the expression of love.

Mental health in the Philippines

In 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) named the Philippines as the country with the highest
incidence of depression in Southeast Asia. In 2004 alone, the Department of Health (DOH) reported over
4.5 million cases of depression. The DOH likewise suggested that, of 90 depressives, only 30 will seek
help. The other 60 will suffer the symptoms but will be ashamed to seek help because of the stigma
associated with the illness.

The WHO report also noted that suicide is a major health problem that occurs in almost every part of the
world, adding that the Southeast Asian region made up over a third of the annual rate. Startlingly, 75
percent of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries.

Suicide impacts on the most vulnerable of the worlds populations and is highly prevalent in already
marginalized and discriminated groups of society. It also said that, despite the alarming statistics, only 28
countries have policies addressing suicide incidents. It added that a national policy or a national
prevention program is imperative to preventing suicide.

Sadly, the Philippines is one of those countries that has yet to pass a national law on mental health. The
lack of such a law, according to leading psychologists and psychiatrists, may well be among the reasons
our suicide rate continues to rise, though there is no definitive consensus on this.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, suicide rate in the country from 1984 to 2005 increased
alarmingly. In 2012, for example, a total of 2,558 Filipinos committed suicide, 2,009 males, and the rest
females.

But these numbers dont necessarily tell the entire story. According to the WHO, they probably represent
only a portion of the whole, because suicides statistics are vulnerable to under-reporting in a
predominantly Catholic country like the Philippines.

THE FILIPINO MENTAL HEALTH

1 in 5 adult Filipinos have psychiatric disorders
There is an average of 88 reported cases of mental illness per 100,000 Filipinos.
In the Philippines...
Mental illness: the 3rd most common form of morbidity among Filipinos (NSO, 2000).
Prevalence of Mental Illness
Prevalence of Mental Illness
Prevalence Rate of Mental Illness in the Philippines
17 to 20% of the adult population have 'psychiatric disorders' and 10 to 15 % of children (aged 5 to 15)
are believed to have mental problems.
According to Ladrido-Ignacio, 50 percent of adults who consult at rural health centers were diagnosed to
have some form of psychological illness in remote barrios
$1.25
Thursday, July 3, 2015
Vol XCIII, No. 311
Prevalence of Mental Illness
of mental health problems in sampled household respondents
Frequently Reported Symptoms
According to WHO, the lifetime prevalence of mental illness globally is estimated at 20% at any given
population. According to the WMH survey consortium in 2004, prevalence rates from developed
countries ranged from 8% to 32.8 %. Data from developing countries showed a much higher prevalence
ranging from 11% to
44%.

Source: DOH Health Policy Notes, Volume 3: Issue 5 (November, 2008)

THE FILIPINO MENTAL HEALTH
STATISTICS
Of the 1.4 million Filipinos with disabilities identified in the 2010 National Census, 14 percent or over
200,000 people had mental disability.
490 psychiatrists for 100 million Filipinos
Year 2014
A total of 5,465-bed capacity for mental disorders
-4,200-bed in National Center for Mental Health
-1,265 are distributed all over the country.

Breakthrough goals
the Department of Health (DOH) announced two breakthrough goals to improve the delivery of mental
health services.
to increase the number of provinces that have integrated mental health services and programs into their
primary and secondary health care systems from 0 to 10 by 2016.
to increase the percentage of level 1 and 2 hospitals with outpatient psychiatric clinic or Acute Psychiatric
Unit (APU) from an unknown baseline to 100% by 2016.

According to the WHO, 1 in 5 people suffer from mental health problems worldwide, yet there are only
0.05 psychiatrists per 100,000 people in the Philippines; most health insurance companies still dont
cover mental health-related issues, and the stigma still weighs heavily on people suffering from mental
illness.